Admiral
Willard J. Smith, a former Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, has died.
He was 89.

A memorial service was scheduled in Atlantic
Beach, Florida, on Friday for Smith, who died there April 1, 2000. He was
the oldest living former commandant until his death.

Smith, born in Suttons Bay, Michigan, served
as commandant from July 1966 until his retirement in June 1970. During
his tenure, he oversaw the Coast Guard's transition from the Treasury Department
to the Department of Transportation in April 1967.

Smith was the first aviator to serve as commandant
and held previous posts with the Coast Guard in Cleveland, Ohio, and New
London, Connecticut.

Smith's cremated remains will be buried in
Arlington National Cemetery at 2 p.m. on April 27, the Coast Guard said.
Smith's survivors include a daughter and a son.

ADM Willard J. Smith, USCG, 1910-200013th Commandant, 1966-1970

ADM Willard J. Smith, USCG(Ret.), 89,
passed away April 1, 2000 in Atlantic Beach, Fla. ADM Smith
served as the 13th Coast Guard Commandant from 1966-1970, was the
oldest living former Commandant, and the first aviator to have
held the Coast Guard’s highest-ranking position. Born in Suttons
Bay, Mich., on May 14, 1910, Smith graduated Charlevoix, Mich. High
School in 1927 and attended the University of Michigan for two years
studying engineering. He then entered the Coast Guard Academy,
graduating in 1933, second in his class. He served as an aide to
wartime Commandant ADM Russell R. Waesche until 1939, and then again
from fall 1944 until 1946. During World War II, while serving as
commanding officer of the Coast Guard Air Station at San Francisco,
he made a daring open sea landing in rough water to bring a
stricken naval officer ashore for medical treatment, an act that
earned him a Letter of Commendation.

During his career, he served as commanding
officer of Air Station Traverse City, Mich., Assistant Chief, Aviation
Division at Headquarters (along with other HQ positions), as commanding
officer of CGC Mackinaw and as 13th District Chief of Operations in Seattle.
In
1962, he became Superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy in New London,
Conn., and brought CGC Eagle to Washington, D.C. where he hosted President
Kennedy onboard. In 1964, he skippered the CGC Eagle as host ship of the
first Operation Sail. A year later, he became Commander, 9th Coast Guard
District in Cleveland, before becoming Commandant in 1966.

During his tenure as Commandant, he oversaw
the service’s transition from the Treasury Department to the Department
of Transportation in April 1967.

Even then, the Coast Guard’s missions had expanded
to the extent that Smith was quoted as saying the words “Coast Guard” gave
only a limited picture of the service’s responsibilities. In a 1970 interview,
he said, “People are surprised, for example, that we have ships and men
in Vietnam.” ADM Smith retired from the Coast Guard on June 1, 1970, spending
most of his retirement in Traverse City, Mich. Prior to leaving Washington,
D.C. he was invited by Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe to become
Assistant Secretary of the newly created Office of Safety and Consumer
Affairs, serving in that post from October 1970 until July 1971. ADM Smith
is survived by his daughter, Lary; son, Jeffrey; and grandchildren and
great-grandchildren. A memorial service was held April 7, 2000 at the Fleet
Landing Officers Club in Atlantic Beach, Fla. Interment was held at Arlington
National Cemetery on April 27, 2000 with full military honors.

His cremated remains were buried with those
of his wife, the former Harriet A. Lary of Los Angeles, who died on Feb.
2, 2000. Cards and other written condolences can be sent to 5516 Rigel
Court, Atlantic Beach, FL, 32233 or HC77 Box 58, Hancock Point Road, Hancock,
ME 04640. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes that donations be made
to the Coast Guard Foundation (www.cgfdn.org), 394 Taugwonk Road, Stonington,
CT 06378-1807, 860-535-0786, e-mail: info@cgfdn.org
Posted: 16 April
2000 Updated: 12 February 2001 Updated: 18 August 2001 Updated: 31
January 2004 Updated: 17 September 2005